


No.28 You Have To Let Me Go

by LiGi



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [28]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: BAMF Merlin (Merlin), FebuWhump2021, Gen, Hostage Situations, Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Implied/Referenced Torture, Uther Pendragon's A+ Parenting (Merlin), You have to let me go, no 28
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29788107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiGi/pseuds/LiGi
Summary: Febuwhump 2021 day 28 - "You have to let me go!"Follow on from no.10 - When Uther can not meet the sorceress's hostage terms, Merlin has to set out to rescue Arthur
Relationships: Leon & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137632
Comments: 17
Kudos: 61





	No.28 You Have To Let Me Go

**Author's Note:**

> Unbetaed, because I didn't get it done in time for Onehelluvapilot! But thank you for betaing the rest of these m'dear!! (She is fantastic, by the way, everyone should go and read her febuwhumps as well!!)
> 
> And here we are, the end of febuwhump!! I wasn't sure I would get here, but I did and only one day late! And if we pretend this is a leap year so that today is still February then it's fine!!

_Follow on to No.10 (Hostage Situation)_

“How dare you?!” The king rose from his throne, his face red with anger. He threw the parchment to the floor and Merlin caught sight of Arthur’s signature, his seal, and a horrible splattering of blood. His own blood went cold. This was the last time he was ever going to let Arthur go anywhere on his own. He knew he should have insisted on going with him.

The sorceress was restrained and manhandled to the floor. She hissed angrily at the men holding her but didn’t fight them.

“An eye for an eye, your _Majesty_ ,” she spat. “Release my husband, and I shall let your prince go.”

“Where is he?” the king growled. His hands were balled into fists, shaking with rage at his sides.

The sorceress merely laughed. “Agree to my terms or you shall never find out.”

Merlin was almost vibrating with nerves. He could feel Gaius’s arm tense beside him. He leant towards him, nudging him with an elbow.

“I can put a tracking spell on her,” he muttered. “I’ll follow her to where Arthur is.”

“Be careful, my boy, she’s powerful.”

“Gaius, I have to save him.”

“I do not negotiate with sorcerers!” the king yelled.

“Your son said the same thing, your Majesty. But I think perhaps you are both wrong,” she said with a cruel smile. “If you want to see your son alive you _will_ negotiate with me.”

Uther roared, storming down the steps towards her.

“If you harm him…”

“Release my husband,” the woman cried, sitting up on her knees to glare at the king.

Uther scowled at her with cold contempt. “He is already dead.”

“No!” The sorceress let out a scream so piercing that many of the guards around the room slapped their hands over their ears, the ones holding her letting go. Merlin winced, feeling his magic surge inside him, reading for if he needed it.

The woman shouted a spell and Uther staggered, tripping and falling backwards at the foot of the throne. A guard leapt forward to grab his arm and pull him up, but the sorceress was on her feet again and bearing down on him, near spitting in anger as tears poured down her face.

“You killed him! You will regret that, Uther Pendragon! I _shall_ send you back your prince. I’ll send you back his bloody corpse!”

“No!” Uther growled, reaching for his sword, every guard and knight in the room copying his action.

The sorceress flung the king back to the floor with a second spell then began a chant, turning on the spot so her cloak swirled in a sudden whirlwind. Merlin shot his hand out, muttering the tracking spell just in time before the woman vanished into the hazy air. Luckily, in the chaos, no one except Gaius seemed to notice him.

Gaius put a hand on Merlin’s arm, squeezing briefly and nodding.

“Go, my boy. Good luck.”

Merlin wormed his way out of the throng of onlookers, pushing between servants and knights alike to get to the doors.

“Sir Leon,” the king was shouting behind him. “Take two score of men, find the prince! And find that witch and bring me her head!”

Ignoring the clanging of armour and clamour of voices, Merlin burst from the throne room and began sprinting through the palace, tripping down stairs and hurtling along corridors.

He got to the stables and breathlessly demanded a mount, for once using his status as the prince’s personal manservant to get the stable hands leaping to obey his order. He’d thank them and apologise when he got back, but for now speed was of the essence. Within a couple of minutes, he was galloping out of the front gate, following the tug of his magic to find the sorceress’s location.

* * *

A distraught scream heralded the sorceresses return. Arthur tensed against his restraints, gritting his teeth and trying, in vain, to curl his numb hands into fists. The door burst open and the sorceress swept in, her staff already pointed at Arthur, a spell on her lips before he even had time to blink.

Blinding pain burnt through his head; he cried out, screwing his eyes shut as black spots danced across his vision.

“He’s dead!” the woman screeched. “Executed by word of the king.”

Arthur could do nothing but gasp ragged breaths in and out, trying to stop shaking. He felt limp, only the restraints that held his arms and legs against the wall keeping him upright.

The sorceress raged, screaming spell after spell, her staff flashing in the air as she wielded it against Arthur. It felt like fire blazed in his chest, choking him, stopping him from taking a breath. He twisted and thrashed, his back arching away from the wall, which only increased the pressure of the bonds around his wrists. He was in agony, and he couldn’t prevent the sobbed cries bursting from his raw throat.

Eventually the sorceress stopped, her own breathing heavy, tears streaked down her face.

“Your father has signed your death warrant, Prince Arthur,” she spat at him, her voice shaking. “The second that axe blade fell on my husband.”

Arthur’s head dropped to his chest. He’d known his father would not negotiate with this woman, had known that her demands would not be agreed to. Her husband had been arrested for sorcery and therefore must be killed. That was the law of Camelot. He wasn’t entirely sure how this sorceress had even got into the city, demanded the release of her husband and managed to get back out alive.

“Please,” he croaked. “You have to let me go. Killing me won’t bring your husband back.”

“The king must pay for what he’s done!” she shouted.

“If you kill me, the king will never stop hunting you,” Arthur tried to reason, but he knew it was futile.

With a sneer, the sorceress jabbed her staff forwards. Arthur was flattened back against the wall, his head thumping into the stone. Blood bloomed across his already stained shirt as if she’d stabbed him with a blade. His stomach lurched, pain radiating through his entire torso.

Before he had time to recover from the blow, the magical restraints holding his arms and legs vanished and he fell to the floor in a crumpled bleeding heap. The staff was levelled on him again and the pain ricocheted through his body. Agonising pain, like a thousand tiny daggers plunging into his skin, crawled up his back. He keened, the sound torn from him until even his voice gave out. His hands grasped uselessly against the floor, trying to pull himself away, but the pain was never ending. It burned and burned and burned.

He couldn’t breath. Nothing existed apart from the constant pounding in his head. He kicked his feet into the stone floor.

“Let me go,” he begged, his pride shattered as he sobbed into the blood stained floor beneath him. “Let me go.”

* * *

A horrible ragged scream echoed through the building and Merlin dashed forwards. He reached a door at the end of hallway and burst through it, his hand already up and ready to unleash his magic.

Arthur was curled on his side on the floor in the middle of the room, panting and whimpering, blood seeping through his shirt and trickling from between his lips. The sorceress was standing over him, her staff jabbing into his back.

Merlin threw his hand forwards, sending the woman flying into the wall, then hurried to the prince’s side.

“Arthur!” He dropped to his knees, placing one hand on Arthur’s shaking back, keeping the other outstretched to the sorceress.

“Who are you?” she spat, pulling herself up from the crumpled position she had landed in.

“Someone you’re going to wish you hadn’t crossed,” Merlin muttered, bending to try and see Arthur’s face, which was pressed against the flagstone floor, his eyes glazed and partially closed.

“I doubt that,” the woman hissed.

She pulled her staff up and suddenly burning pain was racing through Merlin’s head, ferocious and blinding, feeling like it was going to split his skull in two. He cried out, arching his back and grabbing his head. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t think. Every muscle in his body jerked as fire lanced down his spine.

“No!” he ground out, gritting his teeth.

He blinked, trying to see through the haze of agony, forcing his magic up to fight the incoming spell. Slowly and painfully he managed to push her magic out of his head, clearing his mind and blocking her from making another attempt.

With a gesture of his hand he tugged the staff from her grip, snapping it easily with a spell. He let the two pieces of now useless wood drop to the floor and a flicker of fear crossed the sorceress’s face.

“You can’t…” she whispered.

“You gave me no choice!” Merlin yelled, flinging her back against the wall again.

She slid down it, motionless. Whether she was dead or just knocked out, Merlin didn’t care; Arthur had just groaned and shifted his hand.

“Arthur? Arthur, can you hear me?” Merlin muttered to him, his hands sliding across Arthur’s back and shoulders, searching for injuries.

“M’lin?” He blinked up at him, his eyes clouded, unfocussed and streaming with tears.

“Come on, we have to get you out of here. Can you stand?”

“Wh’ happ’d?” Arthur slurred, his head lolling as Merlin tried to hoist him up a bit.

Merlin didn’t answer, concentrating on getting Arthur sitting upright, leaning against his chest. He pulled Arthur’s arm over his shoulder and slightly unsteadily got to his feet, dragging the prince up with him. He wrapped his arm around his waist, pressing against him and taking his weight on his hip. Arthur just about got his feet under him and together they staggered from the room.

Merlin looked back over his shoulder, saying a spell to bring the ceiling down as soon as they were out of the building. The rumbling, crunching crash of falling masonry roared behind them as Merlin dragged Arthur towards the woods where he’d left his horse.

Arthur wasn’t completely with it as they made their way into the trees, his stumbling feet catching on a root and sending him tumbling to the floor. Merlin was pulled down as well and he breathed heavily as he scrambled back up and leant over Arthur. The prince groaned, his hand clutching at his wounded stomach. Merlin propped him against a tree, brushing the hair back off his face. His eyes still wouldn’t focus.

Frowning, Merlin pulled Arthur’s hand away from his stomach, replacing it with his own. With a quick glance at Arthur’s slack face and closed eyes, Merlin muttered a healing spell, lifting Arthur’s shirt to check the wound. His spell didn’t seem to have had any effect. Whether that was because it was a magically inflicted injury or just because Merlin had never excelled at healing spells, he wasn’t sure. He tried again and managed to at least stop the bleeding.

“M’lin, sound str’nge…” Arthur murmured.

Merlin cut off from the spell guiltily, he’d thought Arthur was unconscious. But his eyes drifted open and he gave Merlin a bleary look.

“How are you?” Merlin asked, ignoring Arthur’s inquisitive comment. If he asked anything else, Merlin could just pass it off as his delusional mind playing tricks on him.

Arthur groaned. “Ev’rythin’ hurts.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I –” He stopped, leaping to his feet when he heard approaching horses. His hands balled into fists, magic pooling in his palms and he stood protectively in front of Arthur.

Thundering hooves shook the ground until suddenly several dozen horses burst through the trees ahead of them. The red cloaks of Camelot knights flowing behind their riders.

“Merlin?!”

One horse cantered over and the rider looked down at him. Sir Leon opened his mouth to ask a question but before he could say anything, he caught sight of the prince slumped behind him, and immediately slid off his horse, hurrying to Arthur’s side.

“Sire! Arthur?” He put a gentle hand under Arthur’s chin, tilting his face up to look at him. Then turned to Merlin. “What happened? Where’s the sorceress?”

“I… I don’t know,” Merlin lied. “I didn’t see her, I just found Arthur and got him out.” He gestured behind him in the direction of the collapsed building.

“Go and search! Find that sorceress and bring her back to the king. Preferably dead,” Leon ordered the other knights and half of them rode off in the direction Merlin had pointed, the rest circling the trees around the fallen prince. Leon grimaced and looked back at Merlin. “How did you know where to find him, Merlin?”

“I – he told me where he was going and I, um, just searched the surrounding areas?” Merlin offered, knowing his voice sounded uncertain in the lie, but hoping Leon would be preoccupied enough by Arthur to not notice.

The knight gave him a brief searching look, but then turned his attention to the prince.

“Leon…?” Arthur looked up at him, confusion tilting his eyebrows into a frown.

“Yes, it’s me, Arthur.” Leon smiled, his hand gripping Arthur’s shoulder. “Come on, we’re going to get you home.”

Merlin helped Leon lift Arthur to his feet and carry him over to Leon’s horse, where they hoisted him up into the saddle. Leon gave the patrol of knights orders to keep searching the area, then mounted up behind Arthur, wrapping an arm securely around his middle to hold him to his chest.

Merlin dashed into the trees to find where he’d tied his own horse and scrambled up into the saddle, trotting quickly back to Leon’s side.

“Thank you, Merlin.” Leon gave him a large smile. “Well done.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read, kudosed, commented and bookmarked any of these fics! I love you all!


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